TWiV 1133: Gain of function makes us safer

TWiV reviews cases of measles in Brooklyn NY and Washington DC, stalling of global childhood vaccination, licenses H5N1 vaccines protect against circulating strains, viruses traveling without passports. OC43 SARS-CoV- 2 spike replacement virus as an improved BSL-2 proxy virus for SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assays, and deep mutational scanning reveals functional constraints and antibody-escape potential of Lassa virus glycoprotein complex.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

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Weekly Picks 1:36:40

Dickson – Elemental sulfur found on Mars
Kathy – Lennette Lectures at ASV, including Gail Wertz, ASV 2024
Rich – Electricity maps (Opinions: Nuclear Waste Is Misunderstood; Should We Be Worried About Nuclear Waste?)
Alan – Nature sent an investigative reporter to a predatory conference
Vincent – Coal-filled trains are likely sending people to the hospital

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV 1132: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update, Dr, Daniel Griffin reviews President Biden’s case of COVID, reviews recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, discusses post-acute sequelae after infection during pregnancy, the use of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir for post-exposure prophylaxis, where to find Pemgarda, effectiveness of combined nirmatrelvir-ritonavir-molnupiravir treatment, effectiveness of Ensitrelvir in reducing severe outcomes in outpatients at high risk for COVID-19, effectiveness of combined nirmatrelvir-ritonavir-molnupiravir treatment in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, CDC update of Long COVID Basics page, postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pre-delta, delta, and omicron eras, Long COVID risk has dropped over time but remains substantial, efficacy of antivirals, corticosteroids, and mAbs as acute COVID treatments in reducing the incidence of long COVID, and the interplay between diet and the gut microbiome: implications for health and disease.

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 1131: Mootant influenza H5N1 virus

TWiV reviews the potential impact on science of the Supreme Court ruling in the Chevron decision, measles in New Hampshire and Vermont, new who proposed terminology for respiratory pathogen transmission, and pathogenicity and transmission of bovine H5N1 influenza virus.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

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Weekly Picks 1:32:57

Dickson – Stockholm Wood City
Rich – “The Wide Wide Sea” by Hampton Sides
Vincent – Tour de France stage 12

Listener Picks

Amy – Earth Forced from the Protective Heliosphere: What Do We know?

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV 1130: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses H5N1 influenza in the bird and cow communities of Colorado and Michigan and dengue in New York and the US before reviewing the recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, the absence of association with proton pump inhibitors and COVID-19 severity in children, where to find PEMGARDA, the effectiveness of molnupiravir and dexamethasone, convalescent plasma, what to do when healthcare workers succumb to SARS-CoV-2 infection, a resource of long COVID answers, how the WHO and CDC define long COVID and how it compares to ME/CSF.

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 1129: You never forget the first time you flu

TWiV reviews measles in Kenya, a trial for a intranasal COVID vaccine, dengue in the Florida Keys and in Central/South America, Spain connecting government with scientists, T cell activation and viral RNA fragments persist for up to 2 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and durable cross-reactive and protective antibodies against avian N2 neuraminidases elicited by A(H2N2) and A(H3N2) influenza pandemics.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Alan Dove

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Weekly Picks 1:37:59

Alan – The first few minutes of this video by Roger Barnes
Vincent – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story

Listener Picks

Fernando – A City on Mars

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV 1128: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses the fourth US case of H5N1 human infection and reminds the audience of the definition of “pasteurization” before reviewing the recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, where to find PEMGARDA, the effectiveness of molnupiravir and dexamethasone, convalescent plasma, what to do when healthcare workers succumb to SARS-CoV-2 infection, how an EEG can be used to look for signatures of cognitive decline after SARS-CoV-2 infection and what we observed 2 years following SARS-CoV-2 infection for tissue-resident T cell and viral RNA persistence.

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiV 1127: Giving prions the (zinc) finger

TWiV discusses secret anti-vax campaign run by Pentagon to undermine China during pandemic, NY governor’s subways mask ban proposal, Colorado bat facility sparks outbreak fears, House budget billls suggest ban on gain of function research, evolution of STAT2 resistance to flavivirus NS5, and brainwide silencing of prion protein by AAV-mediated delivery of an epigenetic editor.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

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Weekly Picks 1:39:48

Dickson – Mars Odyssey Orbiter is about to make its 100,000th orbit
Alan – Local animal shelters and “kitten season.”
Vincent – Supreme Court allows cities to ban homeless people sleeping outside, even when shelter space is lacking

Listener Picks

Blog design – Trump vows to defund schools requiring vaccines for students
Jon – Detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza in mammals

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV 1126: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin discusses RSV vaccination recommendations and revisions to guidelines before reviewing the recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, data suggesting that individuals with high HLA-DQA2 expression (MHC class II) are better at preventing the onset of a sustained viral infection, how moderate coffee intake can reduce risk of COVID-19 severity but cannabis use resulted in more severe disease but reduced risk of mortality, where to find PEMGARDA, if statin use prevented severe COVID-19, the benefit of administering nirmatrelvir and ritonavir after 5 days, convalescent plasma, what do when healthcare workers succumb to SARS-CoV-2 infection, if fecal microbiota transplants aid in recovery from COVID-19, and the definition of characteristics and clinical patterns for the diagnosis of long COVID.

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 1125: Can pig flu viruses go viral?

TWiV reviews criticism of NIAID monkeypox virus experiments by House Republicans, spread of wild poliovirus across Afghanistan and Pakistan, plan to overhaul NIH by House lawmakers, and the potential pandemic risk of circulating swine H1N2 influenza viruses.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Brianne Barker, and Angela Mingarelli

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Weekly Picks 1:17:38

Angela – Staring at the Sun — close-up images from space rewrite solar science
Brianne – Water frost detected on Mars Volcanos
Dickson – Best view yet of the Crab Nebula
Vincent – Will Your Tattoo Give You Cancer: Probably Not…but Maybe?

Listener Picks

Jessica – Manchurian plague

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV 1124: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In his weekly clinical update, Dr. Griffin reviews the recent statistics on SARS-CoV-2 infection, before discussing methods for sterilizing filtering facepieces, an update to the fall COVID boosters, the emergency use application of a pre-exposure prophylactic and where to find it and drug interaction database, convalescent plasma, the effectiveness of the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab against Omicron variants, what to do when healthcare workers succumb to SARS-CoV-2 infection, the need for better nursing resources, how survivors of COVID-19-associated ARDS exhibited sustained elevation in endothelial dysfunction biomarkers, correlating with the severity of impaired gas exchange, reactivation of latent CMV as a consequence of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, identification of variables that might impact or predict a person’s time to recovery from an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and if COVID-19 patients really have olfactory dysfunction more often than normally smelling individuals.

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

The Hosts of TWiV

Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D.


Brianne Barker, Ph.D.


Rich Condit, Ph.D.


Dickson D.
Despommier, Ph.D.


Alan Dove, Ph.D.


Daniel Griffin, M.D.,
Ph.D., CTropMed CTH


Angela Mingarelli, DVM


Jolene Ramsey, Ph.D.


Kathy Spindler, Ph.D.


CLICK FOR MORE INFO

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